Once Upon A December
by Caius'babygirl
Summary: Helene Cullen has a lullaby to the tune of "Once Upon A December." When a fire leaves Helene an Orphan, she is forced to live without her biological family. When an accident occurs nine years later, Helene is in for a most unpredictable surprise.
1. Chapter 1- Prologue

Prologue

Helene Annaliese Cullen was the most beautiful girl you could ever wish to meet, and the nicest. Born in Germany, Helene had the same beauty that German girls had, but she wasn't actually German. Her mother, Esme Cullen, was American, and her father, Carlisle Cullen, was British. So they often joked that Helene was Briterican. Helene also had an interest which is vital to the story.

Helene Cullen really liked musicals.


	2. Chapter 1- Singing is Great

Once Upon a September

Chapter 1

Three days before Helene Cullen was to turn five, her mother, Esme, bought her daughter a copy of Anastasia. It was Helene's favourite musical, but her favourite song was "Once Upon a December." When the song came on, the angelic voices of Liz Callaway and Helene sang in perfect harmony. However, the languages in which they sang were different. Whilst Anastasia was singing in English, Helene was singing in German.

"Tanzen Bären

Bemalte Flügel

Dinge, die ich fast vergessen,

Und ein Lied jemand singt

einmal im Dezember

Jemand hält mich sicher und warm,

Pferde tänzeln durch einen silbernen Sturm,

Figuren tanzen anmutig,

über mein Gedächtnis,

Jemand hält mich sicher und warm,

Pferde tänzeln durch einen silbernen Sturm,

Figuren tanzen anmutig,

über mein Gedächtnis,

Weit weg, lange her

Dinge, die ich yern zu erinnern

und ein Lied singt jemand

Einmal im Dezember

Und ein Lied jemand singt

Einmal im Dezember." Helene sang sweetly, and her parents applauded her.

When the movie had finished, Helene's older siblings came home from school.

"Hey, Squirt!" Her big brother, Emmett said, giving his sister a hug. Alice and Rosalie hugged her, and so did Edward and Jasper.

"Hello, you lot. Did you know that your sister is a wonderful singer?" Esme asked of her children. Alice smiled at Helene, and said, "I'd like you to sing, in German, and with Jasper, Sixteen going on Seventeen from the sound of music." Jasper groaned, and stuck out his tongue at Alice. Nevertheless, knowing that it was pointless to argue with Alice, he sang,

[Jasper:]

Sie warten, kleines Mädchen, auf einer leeren Bühne

Für das Schicksal, um das Licht einzuschalten

Dein Leben, kleines Mädchen, ist eine leere Seite

Dass Männer wollen auf zu schreiben

[Helene:]

Um schreiben

[Jasper:]

Sie sind sechzehn los siebzehn

Baby, es ist Zeit zum Nachdenken

Besser Vorsicht, sein canny und sorgfältige

Baby, du bist am Rande

Sie sind sechzehn los siebzehn

Fellows werden im Einklang fallen

Eager jungen Burschen und Schurken und Proleten

Wird Ihnen Essen und Wein

Völlig unvorbereitet bist du

Um eine Welt der Männer Gesicht

Timid und scheu und verängstigt sind Sie

Der Dinge außerhalb Ihrer ken

Sie brauchen jemanden, der älter ein weiser

Sagen Ihnen, was zu tun ist

Ich bin siebzehn los achtzehn

Ich kümmere mich um dich kümmern

[Helene:]

Ich bin sechzehn los siebzehn

Ich weiß, dass ich naiv bin

Fellows treffe ich kann sagen, ich bin süß

Und ich glaube, willig

Ich bin sechzehn los siebzehn

Innocent as a rose

Bachelor Dandys, Trinker Edelbrände

Was muss ich wissen, von denen

Völlig unvorbereitet bin ich

Um eine Welt der Männer Gesicht

Timid und scheu und ängstlich bin ich

Von Dingen jenseits meiner ken

Ich brauche jemanden, älter und weiser

Erzählte mir, was zu tun

Sie sind siebzehn los achtzehn

Ich werde auf dich verlassen.

As the two siblings finished their song, they were applauded madly.


	3. Chapter 2- Lullaby

Lullaby

Esme and Carlisle were dancing to the tune of Brahms Hungarian Dance, when they heard a scream coming from upstairs.

"Helene!" They both yelled, and fled upstairs to find their daughter fast asleep, evidently having a nightmare. Carlisle gently shook his daughter by the shoulder, and Helene, in tears, woke up. "What a horrid dream that was." She wailed, scared more than anything else. "At least it wasn't real, Helene." Her mother said, soothingly. It turned out that Helene's dream had been about wicked witches, and she said that she never wanted to see the Wizard of Oz again.

Esme could see that her daughter was having some trouble falling asleep, so she sang,

"You're my girl

Kind and sweet

The sweetest I've known for ever

And I'll sing

A song to you

A song for my girl in September.

Do not worry, my dear child

For all though nightmares seem so wild

When you're around your family

Nothing to worry, you see.

Helene smiled, and sang

I'm around my family

A nightmare now can never hurt me

And a song my mother sings

To keep away bad dreams

I'm allright

Nothing to fear

And everything gets clearer

A song for me

My mother sings

For I was born in September.

And a song sung for me

For I was born in September."

Carlisle and Esme smiled at their daughter, and stayed with her, even after she fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4- Fire Kills

Fire Kills

The eve of Helene's birthday, Helene was fast asleep in bed dreaming about the German opera. She could distinctly hear the sound of something crackling, and then her sister, Rosalie, burst in, screaming, "The house is on fire!" Waking up abruptly, Helene jumped out of bed, and crawled as fast as she could to her window. Flames of bright orange obscured all of her possessions, but Helene simply did a back-flip out of her window, and landed neatly onto the grass outside. When she glanced around, there was no sign of her family anywhere. Panicking, Helene screamed the names of her parents and siblings, but there was no answer. Screaming, Helene ran towards the house of her best friend, Hannah Brown. Sophie Brown, Hannah's mother, looked up, none too pleased at Helene's rather late visit.

"What are you doing here at such a late hour, Helene?" She asked, rather crossly.

"My house is on fire, can you phone the fire department?" Helene said panic and hysteria in her voice.

Mrs Brown rang the department immediately, and then she and Helene rushed over to the burning building. However, there was still no sign of her parents or her siblings.

When, about ten minutes later, the engines arrived with an ambulance in tow, Helene said to one of the officers that her family were still stuck inside. Four hefty firemen went in to find Helene's family, and it was a good and bad situation. The Cullen's were found, but unfortunately, they had all been killed. Helene became hysterical, as she realised that she would never see her family again.

_Fire kills, _she thought, as with a great whoosh, a burning bookcase fell out of her window, striking her on the head. Helene collapsed, and fell unconscious, as everything around her went black.


	5. Chapter 5- Adoption

As Helene sat on her barrack bed in the Orphanage, she, for the countless time, wondered why she was there. All she knew was that her family had been killed in a house fire, but she couldn't remember the fire at all.

This had happened five years ago, but all Helene knew was that she was in an Orphanage, and she didn't have much of a chance of getting out.

"Hey, Helene." A friendly voice said. This was Helene's good friend, Emily.

Now, when Helene had been found outside of her burnt home years ago, she didn't remember her name, and so the Orphanage owner had called her "Helene." And Helene she was.

"Hello, Emily." She responded, rather flatly, because she suffered from constant headaches, due to Amnesia. Emily, who was a true friend, said kindly, "There's a couple here to adopt two of us, Helene." Helene rolled her eyes, and then gasped in pain as her brain gave another painful twinge.

The couple, who went by the names of Jane and Jamie Brown, were very brown. The only thing that weren't brown was their lips.

Jane glanced around at the girls, talking to her husband about which two girls she should adopt. Jamie, glancing at the girls, locked eyes with Helene and Emily. He turned to his wife, pointing out the two girls to her, and she smiled.

"How about the girl with the dark blue jersey, and the girl with the short green dress, Mrs Thompson?"

Mrs Amy Thompson, who ran the Orphanage, nodded in agreement, and Emily and Helene cheered in delight.

As they left the Orphanage, Jane asked the girls what their names were, and Helene, who was wearing the green dress said, "My name's Helene, Mrs Brown."

Jane smiled at her, and shook her head. "There's no need to be formal, my dear." "Pretty soon, I'll be your new mother, even though I understand I can never take the place of your biological mother."

Helene looked at her sadly, and said, "I don't remember my biological family, mum."

"My name's Emily." Said Emily, getting a chance to speak at last.

"I see." "Do you remember your biological family, Emily?" Jane inquired, kindly.

"No, I don't." "My mother died in childbirth, and then my father, out of grief, took his own life." Emily said, rather sadly.

Jane smiled sympathetically at the two girls, and said, "You'll have a family soon, and an older sister, Gloria."

This cheered the girls up immensely, and when Jane stopped walking sometime later, and said "We're here, girls," they glanced up at their new home, and grinned, each thinking, _I think I'm gonna like it here._


	6. Chapter 6

A new Home

As Helene and Emily went inside their new home, the sight that met their eyes was incredible. Helene felt as though she had just walked into a huge museum, and Emily just stood there, her mouth hanging open in great surprise.

Adorning the long walls of the hallway were hundreds of beautiful paintings. One painting had a picture of a sixteenth century castle, and Helene loved it immensely. Emily's favourite painting was one of six golden swans swimming across a tranquil lake.

As well as all the other amazing paintings, there was a large golden statue of a horse, with dark green eyes.

"This is the most amazing house I have ever been in." Helene exclaimed softly, staring at the marvellous paintings and golden horse.

Jane turned around and smiled at her kindly. "Do you like the paintings, my dear?" She inquired, smiling brightly. Helene nodded, and said, "I love them all."

Her mother smiled, and said, "Your sister will be pleased to hear that." She led the two girls down the hallway, and into the oddest living room the girls had ever seen.

The living room walls were painted black, and there were pictures adorning the walls, and relics in glass cases, all to do with WW2. The curtains were striped with yellow stars stitched onto them, and a giant banner with a swastika was hanging by the window, fluttering in the breeze.

Helene frowned; looking confused and a little worried about this room. She looked around, and spotted photos of famous Jews, namely Anne Frank and her family, and Corrie Ten Boom.

"Jane, is there a reason as to why is this room covered in WW2 relics?" Helene asked, rather worriedly. Jane, seeing the look of worry on her daughters' face, smiled thinly, and said, "Every room in this house is decorated with different areas of history, and my husband, my daughter and I all decorated the house."

"Where is Gloria, by the way?" Helene inquired, wondering where her sister was. Jane smiled, and said, "She's at school, but she'll be home in an hour." "In the meantime, shall I show you girls to your rooms?"

This idea sounded sensible, and so the two girls followed their mother upstairs.

"Helene, this is your room." Jane said, with a smile, and opened the door. The sight that met Helene's eyes made her gasp and smile.

The room was decorated in a Cherry Blossom style. Trees were painted on the walls with pink cherry blossoms in full bloom. There were four paintings of more cherry blossom trees, and the furnishings were also covered in cherry blossoms.

"What period of history is this from, Jane?" Helene inquired, staring around at the room with a happy smile on her face.

Jane looked at Helene, somewhat surprised. "Haven't you heard of the Cherry Blossom Festival, Helene?"

Helene shook her head, and Jane said, "It's a festival that takes place all over Japan every year, and we are going next year, which will something for you to look forward to."

Helene smiled, and followed the others out of her room to see Emily's.

Help! I need help for my next chapter, please give me some ideas!


	7. Gloria

Gloria

As Helene, Emily, and their adopted parents played LUDO, the front door opened, and then closed again.

"Oh, that'll be Gloria." Jane said, smiling at the girls, and told them to stay where they were.

Helene started to panic; "What if Gloria doesn't like us, Emily?" She wanted to like Gloria, but knew it would be difficult if Gloria didn't approve of having two new sisters.

Jamie chuckled, and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Helene. Gloria has always wanted to have younger sisters, and she'll learn to love you both in time."

"Girls, I'd like you to meet your older sister, Gloria." Jane said bringing with her a girl whose skin was lighter than her parents.

Helene turned around, and caught the bright blue eyes that were filled with laughter staring at her in curiosity.

"Hello, Gloria. I'm Helene, and this is my sister, Emily." Helene said, somewhat hesitantly.

Gloria smiled brightly, and gave her new sisters a great big hug.

With a very kind smile on her face, Gloria said, "There's no need to be scared around me." In a tone that was just as kind as her smile.

"Did you have a good day at school, sweetie?" Jane asked her, and Gloria suddenly burst out laughing.

"Oh, it was priceless." "Last week we did a test about trivial stuff, and somebody thought that it was the Calamari Desert that turns into a wetland during the rainy season." Gloria said, laughing her head off.

"Isn't it the _Kalahari _Desert that turns into a wetland during the rainy season?" Jane asked, rather amused by what her daughter had said.

"It certainly is, but since the two words sound similar, it's no wonder that Jenny Summers got it wrong." Gloria smiled, showing her bright teeth.

"What's Calamari, Gloria?" Helene asked politely, and her sister said, "Its fried squid."

"That doesn't sound very appetising to me, Gloria." Helene said, before clutching her brain and muttering, "Why do I keep getting these awful headaches?"

Gloria looked at her sister sympathetically, and asked, "How long have you been having headaches, Helene?"

"Since I was five, and I'm now ten." Helene said, annoyed by her irritating headaches.

Gloria looked thoughtful, before saying, "Well, you can go and see Dr. Johnston, who specialises in areas of the brain, and she's lovely."

Helene smiled, and nodded in agreement. "That sounds great, Gloria." Turning to her parents, she asked, "Can I go and see her, please?"

Her parents smiled, and Jane said, "I'll give her a ring."


End file.
